Detours off Britta Blvd

www.britta.com

How did this become a trend to be out of town or busy with after-work events right before my parties?!? ;) I think it started with Halloween 2002 when the Choral Project sang at the National Cathedral in October, plus I was moving out of my apartment & into the duplex at the same time! For Mardi Gras 2005, when our work kickoff event was local but required me out at events every evening & back for early meetings the next morning, I'd come home around 11pm & do party prep until I couldn't keep my eyes open. Then NANOG in LA was the week before Halloween 2005, but that was only a week so I worked around it, decorating before I left, working on mad scientist tags on the flight, etc. This past Halloween it was my own fault for going to Oktoberfest when I was invited, and I only planned to stay after Oktoberfest vs. before so I'd be in town for our concert, which was moved to when I was gone anyway! ;) Now we have kickoff in Vegas this time, plus I'm staying the weekend after to see a highschool friend who lives there, so I'm missing both pre-party weekends, leaving me only 5 days when I get back before the party! Perhaps some might say that the parties aren't enough and that I have to create extra excitement for myself...? ;)

At my mom's urging, plus she paid for the initial 3 hr cleaning as a birthday present, I've committed I will now have my house cleaned professionally once each month. This means I have to have surfaces clear, clothes put away, etc, for them to be able to clean! My house has been pretty presentable since I took the Christmas decorations down, since I've been trying to keep it picked up, but I'm bad about putting away clothes, and leaving stuff on the kitchen counter...so with the multimedia frantic frenzy plus packing & clearing surfaces, I didn't get to bed until 5:15am and had to be up at 8:15 since the housecleaners were scheduled for 8:30-9am so they could be done before I needed to leave for the airport. That forced me to have so many things done that while they were cleaning I could relax a bit, clean out my wallet, purse & laptop bag for flight use, make sure I packed eveything ($25 extra for 9lbs over weight and I didn't bring an extra checkable bag...doh!), and even weed through some webcam captures from Halloween 2005 & 2006, since those are being edited by a friend who volunteered...whew! I have to say that leaving my house sparkling & smelling clean, including my bed made, is a very nice feeling. :)Mardi Gras party prep still to do

I won't get back until Sunday night before the party, plus I'm working all day the Friday before the party, so there is plenty to do! Decorating should be just one evening since it's just Mardi Gras, the cookie decorating takes two evenings because the royal icing must set completely before painting the gold luster dust on top. Since everything is cooked & mixed that can be before the night before, I think it'll be fine, but I don't think I have the time for a Wednesday alto even that week...darn!

still need toset up the webcams & test upload & broadcastdecorate the sugar cookie masks & fleur-de-listake in lavender dress to fitnew mask hopefullypossible matching shoes that were originally planned for the dress but ran out of timeBevMo to buy Hurricane mix, maybe rum - still need to check inventorycheck cider - hopefully next batch will be ready for drinking by the party? need pineapple juice

Fair warning - no more Mardi Gras party progress until I get back from Vegas! :)